More than three months ago, the Indian Premier League had created a storm with the amounts that players fetched at the first auction in February. What it also did was add a new yardstick to measure and compare player performance. Runs scored, averages, wickets taken, strike-rates etc were used to gauge player performance, but now the IPL franchises will be weighing those alongside the sums, in some cases astronomical, paid to the players. Cricinfo reviews how players fared in the 45-day tournament gone by.

Top performers
Mahendra Singh Dhoni was auctioned for US$1,500,000, while Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya and Yuvraj Singh earned over $1 million, but Shaun Marsh, a $30,000 signing, was the tournament's leading run-getter with 616 runs at a sizeable average of 68.44. Marsh took around $48 for every run he scored, while Dhoni's whopping price means his dollars per run scored works out to nearly 3623, more than 75 times that of Marsh's.

Top run-getters in the IPL (more than 400 runs)

Player

Runs

Average

Strike-rate

Price (in US$)

$ per run

Shaun Marsh

616

68.44

139.68

30,000

48.70

Gautam Gambhir

534

41.07

140.89

725,000

1357.68

Sanath Jayasuriya

514

42.83

166.34

975,000

1896.89

Shane Watson

472

47.20

151.76

125,000

264.83

Graeme Smith

441

49.00

121.82

475,000

1077.10

Adam Gilchrist

436

33.53

137.10

700,000

1605.50

Yusuf Pathan

435

31.07

179.01

475,000

1091.95

Suresh Raina

421

38.27

142.71

650,000

1543.94

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

414

41.40

133.54

1,500,000

3623.19

Virender Sehwag

406

33.83

184.54

833,750

2053.57

Rohit Sharma

404

36.72

147.98

750,000

1856.43

Shane Watson, whom Rajasthan Royals purchased for just $125,000, slots in at No. 4 in both the batting and bowling charts, and he rightfully won the Player of the Tournament award. Sohail Tanvir was another of Rajasthan's stars in the IPL, and his 22 wickets at 12.09 left him heads and shoulders above the rest of the bowlers. In total, Rajasthan spent only $225,000 on both Tanvir and Watson. The two picked up 39 wickets between them, not forgetting Watson's immense contribution with the bat and in the field. Tanvir took back $4545.45 for every wicket he took, while the corresponding number was over $50,000 for the likes of Irfan Pathan and RP Singh.

Top wicket-takers in the IPL (15 or more wickets)

Player

Wickets

Average

Economy-rate

Price (in US$)

$ per wicket

Sohail Tanvir

22

12.09

6.46

100,000

4545.45

Shane Warne

19

21.26

7.76

450,000

23684.21

Sreesanth

19

23.26

8.63

625,000

32894.74

Shane Watson

17

22.52

7.07

125,000

7352.94

Piyush Chawla

17

22.88

8.30

400,000

23529.41

Albie Morkel

17

23.47

8.31

675,000

39705.88

Manpreet Gony

17

26.05

7.38

50,000*

2941.18

Yo Mahesh

16

23.12

8.77

50,000*

3125.00

Farveez Maharoof

15

16.60

6.91

225,000

15000.00

Irfan Pathan

15

23.33

6.60

925,000

61666.67

RP Singh

15

29.46

8.61

875,000

58333.33

Icons and leaders
The IPL had demarcated 'icon' players for five cities; coincidentally, all five - Tendulkar [Mumbai Indians], Rahul Dravid [Bangalore Royal Challengers], Sourav Ganguly [Kolkata Knight Riders], Yuvraj Singh [Kings XI Punjab], Virender Sehwag [Delhi Daredevils] - happened to be batsmen. Icons received 15% more than the next-highest player in their franchise, but it was Sehwag, the lowest earner among them - he was the only one with a salary below $1m - who topped the run-scoring charts. Tendulkar's injury meant he missed half his side's matches, while Dravid and Ganguly were the leading run-scorers for the Bangalore Royal Challengers and Kolkata Knight Riders - the latter made some vital contributions with the ball as well.

All the five icons were also captains of their teams. The remaining three sides were led by Shane Warne [Rajasthan], Dhoni [Chennai Super Kings], and VVS Laxman [Deccan Chargers]. Harbhajan Singh and Shaun Pollock led Mumbai in the absence of Tendulkar. Laxman suffered an injury midway through the tournament, and Adam Gilchrist, the leading run-scorer among keepers, took up charge of Deccan, who finished at the bottom. Although iconless Deccan failed miserably, the other two teams without 'icons' made it the final, and Rajasthan, who prevailed in a pulsating final, were the only team whose first-choice captain was an overseas player.

How the other heavyweights fared
Andrew Symonds, the player who went for the second-highest price after Dhoni, was available for just four matches, and though he scored a blistering century against Rajasthan, his poor bowling cost Deccan the match. Ishant Sharma fetched a whopping $950,000 at the auction - the most for a bowler - as his performance Down Under was still fresh in memory, but he was completely lacklustre in the IPL, in which he took just seven wickets. That works out to a humongous $135,714.28 per wicket.

Jacques Kallis had been dropped from South Africa's side for the World Twenty20 last year, and his performances for Bangalore were hardly inspiring. Despite that he played most of the matches, probably because it would have hurt the pockets to rest a $900,000 signing. Mumbai lost Harbhajan, its $850,000 purchase to a slap, while Kolkata, who won Chris Gayle for $800,000, had to frustratingly watch as he warmed the bench with an injury before heading back to the West Indies.

Another $800,000 signing, Robin Uthappa, was largely unimpressive for Mumbai, and at times sloppy in the field, while Deccan's Herschelle Gibbs and Shahid Afridi were far from their best. Brendon McCullum and Kumar Sangakkara both justified their $700,000 price tags- McCullum's 158 to kickstart the IPL left one and all marvelling. Rajasthan, the least-expensive franchise, and the team which spent well below $4m [$5m was the upper limit for all teams], also found its costliest player, Mohammad Kaif at $675,000, scoring just 176 runs at 16 - perhaps they extracted his worth by playing him for all 16 games, utilising his handy presence in the field. Delhi's top three - Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan - were prolific but their middle-order signings - Manoj Tiwary, Dinesh Karthik and Shoaib Malik - failed to fire consistently.

Other players priced $500,000 and above

Player

Price

Runs

Average

Strike-rate

Wickets

Average

Economy-rate

Andrew Symonds

1,350,000

161

80.50

153.33

0

-

14.78

Ishant Sharma

950,000

11

11.00

100.00

7

47.00

7.80

Jacques Kallis

900,000

199

18.09

108.74

1

82.00

8.94

Brett Lee

900,000

17

17.00

130.76

4

28.00

7.00

Harbhajan Singh

850,000

30

15.00

176.47

5

16.40

8.20

Chris Gayle

800,000

-

-

-

-

-

-

Robin Uthappa

800,000

320

35.55

114.69

-

-

-

Brendon McCullum

700,000

188

62.66

204.34

-

-

-

Kumar Sangakkara

700,000

320

35.55

161.61

-

-

-

Jacob Oram

675,000

18

18.00

150.00

3

49.66

9.31

Manoj Tiwary

675,000

104

26.00

122.35

-

-

-

Shahid Afridi

675,000

81

10.12

176.08

9

25.00

7.50

Mohammad Kaif

675,000

176

16.00

102.92

-

-

-

Mohammad Asif

650,000

3

1.50

50.00

8

37.00

9.25

Daniel Vettori

625,000

-

-

-

2

27.00

6.75

David Hussey

625,000

319

29.00

123.16

2

65.00

10.00

Muttiah Muralitharan

600,000

0

0.00

0.00

11

36.72

6.96

Herschelle Gibbs

575,000

167

18.55

109.15

-

-

-

Shaun Pollock

550,000

147

18.37

132.43

11

27.36

6.54

Dinesh Karthik

525,000

145

24.16

135.51

-

-

-

Anil Kumble

500,000

13

6.50

76.47

7

43.42

7.93

Cameron White

500,000

114

16.28

111.76

0

-

24.00

Shoaib Malik

500,000

52

13.00

110.63

2

42.50

10.00

Aussie rules
While the IPL brought to the fore some of India's domestic players such as Yusuf Pathan, Manpreet Gony, Amit Mishra and Shikhar Dhawan, Australian players too flourished in the IPL. Seasoned pros such as Warne, Glenn McGrath, Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey were top-draw, Watson and Marsh excelled, and James Hopes, David Hussey, Simon Katich, Dominic Thornely and Luke Pomersbach did no harm to their prospects for next season.

However, there were also a few NPAs (non-performing Australians), top of the list being Ricky Ponting, who managed just 39 at 9.75, while Kolkata team-mate Brad Hodge didn't make an impression either. Cameron White and Luke Ronchi came to the IPL with a reputation for hard-hitting batting, but both had a humbling experience in India.

Australian players at the IPL

Player

Price

Runs

Average

Strike-rate

Wickets

Average

Economy-rate

Andrew Symonds

1,350,000

161

80.50

153.33

0

-

14.78

Brett Lee

900,000

17

17.00

130.76

4

28.00

7.00

Adam Gilchrist

700,000

436

33.53

137.10

-

-

-

David Hussey

625,000

319

29.00

123.16

2

65.00

10.00

Cameron White

500,000

114

16.28

111.76

0

-

24.00

Shane Warne

450,000

70

14.00

118.64

19

21.26

7.76

Ricky Ponting

400,000

39

9.75

73.58

-

-

-

Matthew Hayden

375,000

189

63.00

144.27

-

-

-

Michael Hussey

350,000

168

84.00

168.00

-

-

-

Glenn McGrath

350,000

4

4.00

80.00

12

29.75

6.61

James Hopes

300,000

221

20.09

149.32

7

39.42

9.85

Simon Katich

200,000

96

96.00

139.13

-

-

-

Shane Watson

125,000

472

47.20

151.76

17

22.52

7.07

Ashley Noffke

80,000

9

9.00

90.00

1

40.00

10.00

Luke Pomersbach

50,000

152

152.00

153.53

-

-

-

Brett Geeves

50,000

-

-

-

1

91.00

11.37

Shaun Marsh

30,000

616

68.44

139.68

-

-

-

Dominic Thornely

25,000

39

19.50

73.58

3

13.33

5.71

Luke Ronchi

^

34

8.50

106.25

-

-

-

Darren Lehmann

^

18

9.00

100.00

-

-

-

Brad Hodge

^

12

4.00

70.58

-

-

-

Best World Twenty20 players at the IPL
Last year Cricinfo had chosen a World Twenty20 XI, comprising the best players from the event in South Africa. Of the ten who played in the IPL, some like Gambhir and Hayden continued their good form in the shortest format, but Afridi, Player of the Tournament in South Africa, had an IPL to forget. Misbah-ul-Haq had used the World Twenty20 to force his way back into the Pakistan Test and ODI sides as well, but he didn't do too well in his stint with Bangalore. RP was a shadow of the menace he was on the seaming tracks in South Africa, and Yuvraj too was unable to find his sublime hitting form.

Best players at the World Twenty20 in the IPL

Player

Price

Runs

Average

Strike-rate

Wickets

Average

Economy-rate

Matthew Hayden

375,000

189

63.00

144.27

-

-

-

Gautam Gambhir

725,000

534

41.07

140.89

-

-

-

Yuvraj Singh

1,063,750

299

23.00

162.50

3

27.66

9.22

Shoaib Malik

500,000

52

13.00

110.63

2

42.50

10.00

Misbah-ul-Haq

150,000

117

16.71

144.44

-

-

-

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

1,500,000

414

41.40

133.54

-

-

-

Shahid Afridi

675,000

81

10.12

176.08

9

25.00

7.50

Daniel Vettori

625,000

-

-

-

2

27.00

6.75

Umar Gul

150,000

39

13.00

205.26

12

15.33

8.17

RP Singh

875,000

27

29.46

8.61

15

6.75

112.50

Young stars not shining bright
Players from India's Under-19 World Cup-winning side also were auctioned for prices ranging from $30,000-50,000. However, not many got a fair chance in the IPL. Of the lot, Ravindra Jadeja, who was bought by Rajasthan, played the most games - 14, while Virat Kohli, who had led the side, featured in 13 of Bangalore's 14. Left-arm fast bowler Pradeep Sangwan played seven for Delhi, but it was Bangalore's wicketkeeper-batsman Shreevats Goswami who won the prize for the best U-19 player, albeit he figured in just four games.

*Minimum price assumed due to non-availability of data
^Prices not available